Broken Lives
by Enzyme
Summary: With Noxus and Ionia at war and the Frejlord fighting amongst themselves, the world seems to be destroying itself. One peaceful afternoon of hunting for food for young Ashe will lead her on an adventure that holds more than she bargained for. AU. Pairings TBD. Temporary Hiatus.
1. Curiosity saved the Cat

**So I've been brewing up some ideas for various one-shots and full stories and whatnot and finally decided to make something of it. Here's my first League of Legends story.**

**NOTE: About 95% of this content will NOT be based off of the lore of the game, so if things seem a bit out of order, it's because they are.**

**Summary: With Noxus and Ionia at war and the Frejlord fighting amongst themselves, the world seems to be destroying itself. One peaceful afternoon of hunting for food for young Ashe will lead her on an adventure that holds more than she bargained for.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this, this all belongs to Riot Games.**

* * *

Avarosa.

It is a normally peaceful ice haven, filled with joyful Frejlords enjoying life as it were meant to be. Olaf, Tryndamere, and Volibear would always be off causing mischief. Ashe, Anivia, and Sejuani would often be enjoying themselves over a cup of tea… Well, Anivia didn't actually drink beverages, but that's beside the point.

Everything seemed to be going well for the peaceful ice haven until Lissandra arrived.

Her twisted words and unyielding power split the Frejlord, causing them to fight amongst each other, families torn apart and friendships destroyed.

Ashe had been shocked when her closest friend, Sejuani, had sided with the ice witch. They had been the closest of friends for the longest time, and now she was abandoning it. All for what? Power?

Lissandra had claimed the throne of the Avarosan kingdom, with Sejuani as her personal servant.

Fortunately for the young frost archer, most of her friends had chosen to fight alongside her. Olaf, Tryndamere, Volibear, Anivia, and even the little yordle Nunu. The strength of the resistance was still not strong enough. Lissandra had managed to pull the majority of the Frejlord to her side at this point by spewing lies and twisting words.

The 6 friends did not live together, but they lived in close proximity of each other in the Avarosan woods. Ashe had chosen to take residence in a small cozy shack not far from the Ionian border. The geography in the area was perfect. A small stream resided less than a mile from the shack, which provided her with a virtually infinite supply of water.

As for food, she did what she did best. Hunt. Her precision aim was typically able to net her enough food to last a solid week. Of course, she did receive a bit of assistance from Anivia, being her eyes in the sky and helping her find various food sources.

Ashe didn't see much of the others. Everyone would occasionally drop by and check on each other, but it was never long. They tried to avoid staying away from their homes, lest they be found and burned to the ground. Ashe had been one to vote for everyone living together, however her fellow Frejlord argued that if they were to be found, they would no doubt be outnumbered and all die. They argued that it'd be better if they weren't all in the same location (well, Tryndamere argued that, but that's because he just wanted to leave all of the killing for himself). They didn't doubt their power in any way, shape, or form. They were certainly stronger than the soliders of the Frejlord, but there was no guarantee that someone like Lissandra or Sejuani wouldn't be with them. If that were the case, no doubt, they would all die.

Nowadays, everything was peaceful for the most part. Occasionally a soldier would wander into the wrong neck of the woods and find himself turned into Volibear's lunch, but that was typically the extent of things.

Ashe sat on her bed carefully placing an arrow head onto a wooden shaft. She maneuvered her pale hands gracefully as she meticulously ensured that the arrow head was secure on the arrow shaft. As she was about to place the finishing touch to the arrow, a feint growl coming from her stomach area startled her, causing her to poke her index finger with the arrow. She yelped in pain and dropped the arrow in favor of sucking on her now bleeding finger.

"Scared by my own stomach… I really need to loosen up." She stated to no one in particular as she retrieved the arrow from the floor.

Ashe had become a beautiful woman indeed. Her long, silver hair held bouncy curls towards the bottom, which stopped near her shoulder blades. She had developed a strong, yet curvy build. She may be part of a rebellion, but that didn't mean she didn't care about her image. Olaf and Tryndamere would often comment on her chest, which had grown to a respectable C cup. This would typically result in the two barbarians lodged in the ground begging for mercy.

Her outfit was definitely different than from when she lived in the capital. Instead of wearing her pure white outfit, she now wore black (AN:think of her default skin in comparison to her Frejlord skin). She never understood why those two perverts would point out her chest over all the rest of her features. Tryndamere would often comment on her bright, piercing blue eyes, but it was typically only when he was being more sentimental, which didn't happen often.

'_Why do men focus so much a female's chest? Ugh, this is why I'm still single.' _She had once said to Sejuani before the war. Sejuani had only given her a hearty laugh and said "Don't you know Ashe? You can use your chest to command armies!" which earned a laugh from the archer.

Ashe couldn't actually remember the last time she had laughed. Or even smiled for that matter. It was all about survival now, there was no time for fun and laughing and jokes. Usually whenever Anivia stopped by, she would only let her know what has happened since the last time she visited and that would be it. Times were too rough, even for the trickster trio that was Volibear, Olaf, and Tryndamere. Nunu was the only exception to the living alone rule, as he was simply too small and too young to be able to operate on his own. The little yordle stays with Olaf, who had volunteered to take him in.

It's been about seven months now since Lissandra had taken over Avarosa. Fortunately it's been a relatively peaceful seven months. It's almost like she's given up on looking for the resistance. Ashe had heard from Anivia, however, of the war between Ionia and Noxus. Ashe's first reaction was grab her bow and head in the direction of Ionia, but Anivia stopped her. She had close friends in Ionia, namely Irelia. She was never a huge fan of Noxus to begin with. She had been told stories when she was younger of the awful things Noxians would do to the women and children of countries they invaded.

Ashe put the arrow she had finished making into the quiver and slung it over her shoulder. She grabbed her bow and headed out into the wintery forest.

'_I should be able to fish something out of the stream, but it is better safe than sorry.'_

Ashe's boots crunched on the snowy ground, heading in the direction of the stream. Her cloak blew gracefully in the gentle wind of the Avarosan forest. The wind was not strong, but it was there. It didn't bug the young archer, however if it were someone, say from Piltover, they would freeze over.

The sun had reached the peak of the sky, which also lessened the intensity of the cold winds. Not a single cloud could be seen in the sky either. Ashe had deemed the day a beautiful day when she awoke and had already told herself that she would head out and enjoy the nice weather while it lasted, so heading out to hunt for food didn't really put a dink in her plans. Not that she ever had plans to begin with. Usually she would stay in the warmth of her home and read various materials that her parents had left behind before they passed away.

Everything so far had gone smooth as silk for the archer. No wolf packs, no soldiers, and no other various interruptions that could potentially ruin her day. However upon reaching the river and seeing the footprints in the ground, needless to say, the paranoia was kicking in.

'_Okay, so I have two options here, I can follow these footprints and find out who's wandering around in my area of the woods, or I can play it smart and head back home…'_

She stared intently at the footprints, not making a sound.

'_These footprints aren't very big… not something you'd see from a Frejlord soldier.'_

She cursed her inner adventurer as she continued to follow the steps in the snow.

It wasn't long before the footprints were now littered with small droplets of blood. Right after that, they seemed to turn from footprints to drag marks in the ground, as if someone were dragging their feet.

'_Who could possibly be injured out in this direction? There hasn't been any signs of violence in months…'_

A large tree up ahead, which looked eerily ominous, was where the tracks seemed to end, they trailed around to the front of the tree and were unable to be seen past that.

Ashe carefully drew an arrow from her quiver and readied it in her bow, cautiously maneuvering her way to the front of the tree, ready for any threat to jump out at her.

At the front of the tree lie a woman, she looked to be young, twenty, but no older. Her right arm seemed to be charred down to the bare flesh, yet it clinched onto a sword, well, a broken sword. In her right hand she held a small shard, what looked to be a small piece of the sword. Her hair was shorter than Ashe's, but silver just like hers. The most notable part of this woman to Ashe was definitely the blood-red colored eyes.

Her breaths were labored and blood was spattered over much of her abdomen.

"Tsch, I always thought I'd die to that bastard Darius…"

She then lost consciousness.

* * *

**I'm going to cut this chappy short because I'm still laboring through like three other stories. Bear with me here guys, I'm going to try to get updates out as often as possible!**


	2. Friendship

**Oookay, so not having Microsoft Office for my computer is quite annoying, but then one of my good friends (and fellow writers) reminded me that I could use Google Docs for writing my material! Go him!**

**Anywaaaaay, now that I've got tons of free time, I can focus on writing and updating more often for you guys. Sorry about the late update!**

**Also, forgive me for spelling "Freljord" wrong in the WHOLE entire first chapter, I didn't mean to, I swear!**

**Disclaimer: All dis stuff are belong to Rito Gaeming.**

* * *

Ashe gently hummed as she ran her hands through the lukewarm water. She always hated the smell of fish on her hands, but fishing was always the easiest way to acquire food safely and efficiently. She always quietly thanked Heimerdinger for coming out and generously building a plumbing network for her and her fellow Freljord. The genius yordle only humbly nodded his head and mentioned something along the lines of owing someone a favor.

Her voice was soft as she hummed the tune, a song that her mother had hummed to her when she was just a girl, an old Freljordian tune that anyone in Runeterra could recognize, as it had been passed down since the ancient times. Her voice, despite the gentleness of it, was the only thing that could be heard inside of the small hut she called her home.

"I know that song…"

Ashe nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice. It was more of a whisper than a voice, but still a voice nonetheless.

The girl from earlier now sat up, but only slightly, her crimson eyes glowing and her short silver hair a disheveled mess. Her arm was bandaged heavily along with light bandaging around her chest and abdomen. She seemed to be in a daze, but still fully aware of her surroundings.

"You're… awake." Ashe mumbled as she shut off the sink.

"Unfortunately." The girl tried to give a chuckle, but it only came out as a hoarse cough followed by her falling back down to her previous prone state.

Ashe rushed over to her, examining the bandaging on her arm and torso, ensuring none of it had come loose. She then placed her hand gently to her forehead and frowned.

"Slight fever still…"

She gracefully made her way over to the sink and ran a cloth under some cold water. She folded the cloth up and placed it on the girl's forehead, not wanting to risk her becoming even more ill than when she had first found her.

The girl's crimson eyes found Ashe's piercing blue eyes. They didn't hold malice, but more rather confusion and guilt. There was something else there, but Ashe couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Miss…"

"Ashe,"

The girl smiled gently, "Miss Ashe, while I'm eternally grateful that you've taken care of me like this… why did you do this?"

Ashe shrugged her shoulders, "It's just instinct I guess… I've always been one to help people in need, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just left someone out in the forest to die… One thing though… Who are you? You don't look like you're from Ionia."

The girl flinched at the mention of the peaceful country, which piqued Ashe's interest even further.

"My name… My name is Riven."

Ashe raised an eyebrow slightly, the cogs were turning in her head and Riven knew it.

"Riven… Where are you from? If you're not from Ionia I presume…"

Riven's eyes dulled and her expression saddened.

"I'm from Noxus…"

"Oh… I see…"

Riven looked up at Ashe, a pitiful expression on her pale face.

"This isn't what I wanted… I didn't want this onto Ionia. I had friends in Ionia. They knew that… But they still went through with this… this… slaughter…"

"Riven… What happened to you? Clearly if you're this badly injured, the Ionians had to have put up a good fight."

Riven traced her bandaged arm gently, her eyes examining Ashe's handiwork.

* * *

_Riven shouted as she cut down another soldier, their lifeless body dropping the ground in front of her. The runes on her blade glowed brightly as she blocked a blow from an oncoming attacker. Her eyes shot over as she witnessed yet another member of her squad be slain by Ionian defenses. She watched as the last of the Pallas Temple Guardians, Varus, shot another arrow, which found its mark in the chest of yet another Noxian soldier. The blood shed was unreal._

_The unit that Riven had been given to command into battle was slowly being collapsed on by Ionian forces. She winced as she heard the sound of cold steel slicing through flesh, the sound of soldiers, both Ionian and Noxian alike, screaming bloody murder as their corpses drop to the ground._

"_We're running out of options here…" She mumbled to herself. "We're going to need help."_

_Riven pulled a small device, a radio communicator, out of her pouch. She quickly flipped the switch into the on position and waited for the sound of static. There was a very distinct voice on the other end of the device, which sounded much like Darius._

"_Commander Riven! I was worried you had been killed. What is your status?"_

_Riven took a deep breath, then steeled herself. She was never one to ask for help, in fact, she scoffed at the idea, but she was in no position to be turning down help now. "Sir, we're dwindling in numbers, requesting assistance immediately." She hated the sound of her voice. She sounded weak. Desperate. But that's all she had left. It was either this or die. She didn't want to die. Not yet at least._

"_Very well Commander, a wave of Zaunite soldiers are en route to your position. Hang tight." The signal cut-out afterward. Just as she went to put the communicator away, a voice could be heard, a voice that did not sound pleased to see her._

"_Just who do you think you are…?"_

_Riven's eyes quickly shot up to the owner of the voice. It was a man, not too much taller than her. His hair was pulled back into a pony tail and he wore a blue tunic with a silver arm guard. He carried a very long blade, which was currently pointed at her._

"_I'm just following orders!" With that, Riven jumped at the man with blinding speed, her broad sword glowing brightly. Their swords clashed together in a beautiful dance of steel, neither yielding their assaults onto each other._

_Riven swung her blade towards his lower abdomen, which he quickly deflected and went for the counter assault. He lunged at her, his sword destined to pierce her chest, but she side stepped the blow and tripped him. With a shout and a burst of energy, Riven used one of her signature moves, "Ki Burst" immediately stopping the man in his tracks. He fell to the ground, long sword falling to his side, and Riven immediately held her blade up to his neck._

"_Do it! Kill me Noxian!" His voice was full of hatred and malice, his face contorted angrily._

_Riven clicked her tongue and sheathed her blade. "I do not need to take your life, Ionian. What I have taken is your pride."_

_Riven entered a temple, the place she had originally been sent, and with her blade drawn, entered the main room. Two guards stood at either side of the room, and foolishly charged her. They were cut down instantly. She had been sent to kill an Ionian Elder. She had not been given any reason why, but she just simply follows orders. She slowly opened the doors to a much larger room, where she presumed the Ionian Elder would be. Her instincts quickly kicked in as a blade came down on her from the right, and she parried the blow. An elder man, likely the person she had been sent to dispatch, stood, with a longsword, much like the man from earlier._

"_I don't have time to deal with you old man!" Riven charged at the elder with extreme ferocity. The elder was only able to block the blows, but Riven's constant onslaught did not give him a single opening for any counter blows. Finally, with a great shout, Riven disarmed the man using a powerful blow and used her "Wind Slash," killing the man instantly. She heaved a sigh and sheathed her blade once she knew she was safe from any further hostiles._

_Riven's elite battalion was all that remained of the many soldiers she had brought to the war zone. The ground was soaked in red, the blood of the fallen, and the stench of blood stretched for miles._

"_This… this isn't war… this is just wrong…" Riven dropped to her knees, not caring that the ground below her was soiled with the blood of her own soldiers. She brought her hands to her head and wailed. Her whole body was numb. Her crimson eyes threatening tears. "This… Isn't what Noxus should be about… No… Enough… No more… NO MORE!" She buried her head into her hands and sobbed. _

'_Why am I being like this…? Why? It's not like I haven't seen death on this magnitude before… So why?'_

"_Everyone has their breaking points, General, even you." Riven's eyes widened. She shot her head over to the source of the voice. Her brow furrowed and she gritted her teeth._

"_Singed… What business do you have here?"_

_Singed cackled, "Darius said he was sending Zaunite assistance! Did he not mention that it was me?"_

_His eyes held an almost maniacal look in them. A toothy grin that could make even the fiercest warrior shiver down to their core was plastered on his face._

"_Singed… W-what are you going to do?" Riven's voice held a clear sign of panic. Singed was never one to show sympathy for anyone or anything._

_Singed threw his head back and laughed hysterically. "Why I'm here to __**help**__, Riven! Don't you remember?!" His laughter subsided shortly afterwards. Singed removed the plug to the poison bottle he wore on his back and turned to her. "Now watch as I whisk __**all **__of your problems away, darling!"_

"_You fucking bastard!" Riven charged after the Zaunite, but was brought to a halt as the fumes of his toxin entered her nose. She wheezed, shutting her eyes tight and dropping her blade. When she opened her eyes again, Singed was gone and the battle field was saturated in poison. Screams of agony could be heard for miles. The numbness in her body was finally beginning to recede, now she could feel the full extent the poison's effect. Riven screamed in agony as a burning sensation overcame her right arm, up around her forearm. Tears threatened to fall from her crimson eyes as she watched the flesh of her right arm burn away as if it were paper. She let out an ear splitting scream as she fell to the fetal position, clutching her arm._

"_It… can't end here. I won't let it…" Her voice was merely a rasp and her breaths were labored and weak. She finally fell flat on the ground and allowed unconsciousness to take her._

_Riven awoke in a daze, her eyes burned as if they had been staring directly into the sun. A dull pain in her abdomen was the first thing that she became aware of. She slowly brought her left hand up to the source of the pain and felt an object protruding from her stomach. With a grunt, she removed it from her stomach and lifted it to her face._

'_This… a piece of a sword…? Why does this look so familiar…?' Riven's eyes widened and she twisted her head in the direction of where her sword lay. The blade lay to her right, much of the blade missing, only a small chunk remained of the blade. The glyphs that once glowed brightly were now gone and the blade itself was now but a small sword that one would mistake for a broadsword. The piece she held in her hand was but the tip of the blade, which evidently was shoved into her stomach after the discovery of her. _

'_They must've presumed I was dead… I'd might as well be dead though…' Riven struggle to regain her composure and pulled herself up slowly. 'I need to get out of here…' She glowered at the carnage left behind by the Zaunite, Singed. Dead bodies littered the ground. The smell of burning flesh and blood was now even more prominent than before._

"_That… That fucking bastard… He killed them all… Damnit!" Using her blade as a cane, she slowly made her way in any direction that wasn't towards the front line._

'_If I'm going to die… I'd rather die where no one will ever find me and no one will ever know.' She trudged along aimlessly, deciding that she would go until she collapsed from blood loss and eventually die._

* * *

Riven's head was dipped, her bangs hiding her watery eyes. She didn't like to show such emotions, not even with her friends. She had balled her hands into fists, clutching at the sheets of the bed. She flinched when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.

"I'll take care of you. You can stay here." Ashe's voice was gentle, yet confident.

Riven gritted her teeth and glared up at the Freljord. "I don't need your sympathy." A hint of venom could be heard in her voice.

Ashe closed her eyes and smiled gently. "You're right. You don't need my sympathy. You need my help."

"I don't need your help either!" Riven made an attempt to sit up yet again, but the effort was thwarted by the searing pain in her abdomen. She released an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose before turning away from Ashe.

Ashe giggled, the smile from before remaining on her face. "Well, I don't think you're in much of a position to be declining help, my friend. Besides, things can get pretty lonely out here in this little hut. I wouldn't mind a roommate."

Riven remained silent.

"Riven?"

"I'm… your friend?" Her head remained turned away.

"Hmm? Well I was most certainly hoping we could be friends."

Riven turned her head to face Ashe, the same sad expression from before plastered on it. "But… I'm a Noxian… I… I killed all of those people. Women… Children… I… Why would you want to be friends with someone like me?"

Ashe brought a thoughtful hand to her chin, her blue eyes gazing straight ahead and her brow furrowed. Ashe brought her hand to Riven's shoulder yet again and grinned.

"Because if we all dwelled on the past, the things we'd done in the past, we'd never be able to move forward and explore all of the wonderful things the world has to offer us. We'd never be able to go out and meet new people and see new things. Worst of all, we'd never be willing to befriend others and learn to trust one another. Just a little something my mother taught me when I was a child. You might be a Noxian, but you're still just as human as I am. Humans are inevitably going to make mistakes right? Some of these mistakes will be more severe than others, right? You made a mistake. A pretty bad one, too. But you know what? It's all in the past. All we have is the present and the future."

Ashe gave Riven's shoulder a small squeeze. "So Riven, what do you say? Let's be friends?"

Riven's crimson eyes turned to her lap. Her hand fidgeted with the bandage on her arm, her face was expressionless. She then turned to Ashe and met her eyes. Her blue eyes shone brightly, her lips still turned up in a small grin. Riven chuckled, although it sounded more like a cough, and gave Ashe a small smile.

"I guess it's not too late to start over, friend."


End file.
